adultery
They weren’t all scheming poisoners: the maligned women of imperial Rome
Joan Smith criticises the distortions of Robert Graves in particular, whose villainisation of the empress Livia had no historical basis whatever
Two young men in flight: Partita and A Winter in Zürau, by Gabriel Josipovici reviewed
Kafka, spitting blood, escapes Prague to join his sister in Bohemia, and a fictional lover flees the wrath of an outraged husband in Josipovici’s delightful two-in-one trick
Absinthe and the casual fling: Ex-Wife, by Ursula Parrott, reviewed
A sensational bestseller, first published anonymously in 1929, centres around the adventures of a bright young American divorcée, seizing love wherever she can
Another mistress for Victor Hugo: Célina, by Catherine Axelrad, reviewed
A young chambermaid joins the Hugo household in Guernsey and soon finds herself summoned at night to her master’s adjoining bedroom
The perils of waiting on a Tudor queen
Henry VIII considered the queen’s household a fruitful hunting-ground – for a mistress, a future wife, or a pawn, whose testimony could provide useful damaging evidence
Extremes of passion: What Will Survive of Us, by Howard Jacobson, reviewed
On first meeting, Sam and Lily both suffer a coup de foudre and embark on an affair involving submission and sado-masochism. But where will it lead?
Love and loathing at Harold Wilson’s No. 10
Even her enemies considered Marcia Williams the prime minister’s ‘political wife’, and the real force in the Labour party from the mid-1960s to Wilson’s resignation
Ghostly grandeur
The history of the magnificent Thames-side palace, with its outrageous shenanigans spanning five centuries, is vividly brought to life by Gareth Russell
Secret assignations
Adam Sisman on the private life of John le Carré, revealed in letters and a kiss-and-tell
High life
Gstaad There’s a fin de saison feeling around here, but the restaurants are still full and the sons of the…
A late awakening
Tessa Hadley is the queen of the portentous evening, the pregnant light and the carefully composed life unwittingly waiting to…
Barometer
How many cheats? More data on members of extramarital dating site Ashley Madison were put online. How widespread is adultery?…
Caught on the net
Going online does not make you invisible – as the adulterers who used the hacked site Ashley Madison are discovering
Web of sin
Why don’t more people object to online promotion of adultery?
The Greeks and rape
A footballer serves his sentence for rape, insisting on his innocence. Debate rages whether he should play again. To us,…
Witness to a stoning
Islam knows it is under siege – and the fear makes it more brutal
Flashman lives!
Why it’s time for a Cad of the Year Award
The gay double standard
Why should our marriages demand less than straight ones?
